You spend 20 minutes crafting the perfect subject line. You A\/B test it. You trim it to 40 characters. Then you leave the preview text to whatever your email tool auto-fills.<\/p>\n
That tiny line of text next to your subject line in the inbox? It is doing more work than you think. And most businesses waste it on “View this email in your browser” or a truncated first sentence that cuts off mid-word.<\/p>\n
Preview text is the second subject line. It shows up in every inbox on every device right next to your subject. Used well, it doubles the impact of your open rate. Used badly, it makes your carefully crafted subject line look unfinished.<\/p>\n
The most powerful preview text trick is also the simplest: make your subject line and preview text read as one sentence.<\/p>\n
Subject:<\/strong> Your cart is still waiting…<\/p>\n Preview:<\/strong> and we added a 15 percent discount to sweeten the deal<\/p>\n The inbox shows: Your cart is still waiting… and we added a 15 percent discount to sweeten the deal<\/em><\/p>\n This works because the eye reads both lines as a single thought. The subject hooks, the preview closes. It feels natural, not salesy, and it gives the customer a reason to open right now rather than later.<\/p>\n Other examples:<\/p>\n If your subject line creates curiosity, use preview text to add specificity. If the subject is vague, the preview should be concrete.<\/p>\n Subject:<\/strong> We messed up<\/p>\n Preview:<\/strong> and the only fair thing to do is give you 30 percent off everything<\/p>\n The subject creates tension. The preview resolves it with a benefit. Together, they are more compelling than either line alone.<\/p>\n This also works for product launches:<\/p>\n Most email tools fill preview text with navigation links, “View in browser” text, or the first sentence of your email body. That is wasted space.<\/p>\n Here is what the inbox shows when you do not set preview text:<\/p>\n Your order has shipped – View this email in your browser. Free shipping on orders over…<\/em><\/p>\n Compare that to:<\/p>\n Your order has shipped – and it is arriving Thursday, not Saturday<\/em><\/p>\n To fix this, add a hidden preview text block at the very top of your email HTML, before the header and navigation. Most email tools call it “preheader text” or “preview text.” Fill it with your crafted message and set the font size to 1px or colour it to match the background so it does not show in the email body.<\/p>\n If you do not set it, the inbox pulls whatever text comes first in your HTML. That is usually a mess.<\/p>\n This is where preview text becomes a segmentation tool without sending separate campaigns.<\/p>\n Send one email with the same subject line to your entire list. But change the preview text per segment:<\/p>\n\n
Trick 2: Say Something the Subject Line Does Not<\/h2>\n
\n
Trick 3: Replace the Default Junk Text<\/h2>\n
Trick 4: Use Preview Text to Target Different Segments<\/h2>\n